Career criminal faces more car burglary charges in Stamford

STAMFORD — Police say they have linked a career criminal who was caught in May breaking into cars downtown to more burglaries in the neighborhood.

Kenneth Mikel, 54, who has been held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center unable to post a $150,000 court appearance bond, was charged this week with criminal mischief, criminal trespass, two counts of third-degree burglary and two counts of larceny.

Mikel, of Southwood Drive, has been arrested 17 times since 1982, including 12 for burglary and larceny, police said.

Mikel was apprehended on May 11 when Sgt. George Moran conducted a stakeout in the parking lot behind 595 Summer St., where a thief had been breaking into cars between 9 and 9:30 p.m. on Friday nights. A man, who police identified as Mikel, was seen using his cellphone flashlight to peer into vehicles and check several car doors to see if they were locked.

Police then began investigating earlier car burglaries and determined they have been on the rise, especially around fitness facilities and bars and restaurants around Broad, Bedford and Summer streets. According to Mikel’s arrest warrant, there were 23 car break-ins in the neighborhood between February and May.

Of those, 18 had their windows smashed and five vehicles were left unlocked. Police said there was several thousand dollars worth of damage to the vehicles and several thousand dollars worth of items were reported taken. The items stolen included wallets, cellphones, laptops, backpacks, sunglasses, credit cards, personal identification and cash, the affidavit written by officer Richard Vetter said.

As Mikel was trying to escape Moran’s stakeout, police say he was seen on video throwing his sweatshirt into a dumpster. Police said the head of a hammer was found wrapped in the sweatshirt. Mikel was charged that night with trying to break into six locked cars.

Police said video from the area and evidence found on Mikel when he was arrested linked him to three other burglaries that he was charged for on Tuesday.

“That since the arrest of Kenneth Mikel on May 11, 2018, there has not been a single motor vehicle burglary at any of the sports clubs, parking lots nor has there been a motor vehicle burglary in the downtown area,” Vetter said in the affidavit.